The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) made several changes to Medicare Part D that may impact whether employer-sponsored coverage will be creditable for the 2025 plan year. With open enrollment season about to begin, plan...more
The US Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and the Treasury (collectively, the Departments) released their much anticipated final rules implementing the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and...more
The US Department of Labor (DOL) issued a press release on September 6, 2024 reminding ERISA plan fiduciaries that it considers cybersecurity to be an area of “great concern” and emphasizing that it continues to investigate...more
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently issued final regulations implementing Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which will restore and expand the scope of civil rights...more
The US Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (OCR) published its Final Rule titled HIPAA Privacy Rule to Support Reproductive Health Care Privacy in the Federal Register on April 26, 2024....more
Fiduciary committees have long been established in connection with retirement plans to manage the investment, legal compliance, and operational risks that can arise under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974,...more
At a time marked by themes of “push” and “pull,” organizations across all sectors and jurisdictions are grappling with the pursuit of innovation within an increasingly complex regulatory framework. Over the next 12 months,...more
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA), requires group health plans and insurers to annually attest that they are in compliance with the gag clause prohibition under the CAA. The first attestation is due no later...more
A recently issued White House Fact Sheet, along with a regulatory package from the US Departments of the Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services (the Departments), provides some welcome clarity for plan sponsors and...more
The US Departments of the Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services (the Departments) recently unveiled a proposed rule intended to increase mental health coverage through expanded plan oversight and enforcement...more
Based on new ERISA disclosure rules, now is a good time to review the compensation paid to your health plan’s consultant and broker. ERISA Section 408(b)(2)(B) requires brokers and consultants expecting $1,000 or more in...more
With the COVID-19 public health emergency and the presidential declaration of national emergency intended to end on May 11 and the US government recently issuing guidance on unwinding these emergency declarations, this...more
The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) of the US Department of Labor (DOL) has continued to be active in civil and criminal enforcement investigations of ERISA’s fiduciary duties. This blog post details two...more
The Biden administration intends to end the national emergency and public health emergency declarations (Emergency Declarations) attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic on May 11, 2023. The COVID-19 pandemic brought multiple...more
The US Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization set off a series of changes in reproductive health law across the country. As we transition to a new year and a new Congress, we provide a...more
The recent midterm elections produced many important developments in the area of reproductive rights and set the stage for future legislative action at the state level. We also continue to see important decisions from state...more
Litigation and policy developments at the state and federal level continue as we approach the November election. The Indiana State Supreme Court issued an order on October 12 upholding the temporary injunction on enforcement...more
We are now more than 100 days out from the release of the Dobbs decision and the laws around reproductive rights remain in flux....more
The Mental Health Matters Act, passed in the US House of Representatives on September 29, significantly expands the US Department of Labor’s authority to enforce or file civil litigation with respect to mental health parity...more
Recent developments reinforce the importance of state litigation to reproductive rights post-Dobbs. In Indiana, a court blocked enforcement of the state’s new abortion prohibition, finding that the ban could contravene rights...more
The most significant development regarding reproductive rights in the last week occurred in West Virginia, where the state legislature enacted a near-total ban on abortion. Other major events included the introduction of...more
In the last two weeks, South Carolina’s Senate failed to pass a near-total ban on abortion, California’s legislature passed a law prohibiting California corporations from assisting with certain investigations related to the...more
Federal litigation was in the spotlight last week with two major decisions related to the Biden-Harris administration’s Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) guidance on providing abortion services as emergency...more
Litigation over the effectiveness of various state abortion laws and state legislative efforts continues as we near two months after the US Supreme Court’s Dobbs ruling. The last of the state trigger laws are set to go into...more
The legal landscape around access to abortion services continues to change rapidly in the wake of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. While a number of states have begun implementing laws that were on the books and...more